The Moving picture world (January 1923-February 1923)

Selling thePiOliRE to the Public EDITED BY EPES WINTHROP SARGENT Suicide Stunt at Last Gets Results to Be Expected from Bad Exploitation SOME iwo or three years ago when the fake suicide stunt was being hailed as one of the exploitation triumphs of the century, we warned that some day someone would get hurt by a boomerang. Until lately the most serious result from this questionable idea has been the exile of an exploitation man from a certain midwest town after his plant had resulted in the Chief of Police himself spending a hot summer day dragging the river for the body of the supposed victim. The Chief swore out a warrant that has not yet expired under the statute of limitation, and the exploitation man still does all his business with that town by mail. But now comes the Mayor of a city in New York State to throw out of town a picture exploited through the suggestion of suicide. It w-as the same old idea, a suitcase on the river bank, a pathetic note of farewell, footprints, leading to the water and a hue and cry. .\11 that was lacking was the "blowoff" when the note was to be turned into advertising. It Never Pays This time the Mayor added to the blowoff by refusing to permit the picture to be shown, according to the press report. That is the apparent result. The real result is far more serious. Many women who believed the story will not only stay away from the house in question for some time to come, but they will be loud in their denunciation of pictures in general. They will blame the entire business for the faults of an overzealous exploitation. This has happened before. It will happen again and yet again until exhibitors learn that the oversensational never pays — even though the immediate result may be crowded houses. You can play to double your usual business and yet lose more money than a dozen weeks of capacity business will amount to. You can get the i^nmediate results and make enemies who will work against you for months to come. Mills Grind Slowly You do not see the money you do not make. You do see the money that is in the cash box. You cannot compare them, but the most expensive thing a manager can do is to pull some stunt which has a back kick. It may look like a success at the moment, but you have betrayed public confidence, and it may be a year or more before you fully regain your status. There are so many good stunts — stunts with a laugh in the snapper — that there is no excuse for pulling cheap sensation. There is every reason why you should not. You not only spoil your business, but you put yourself in a position where presently your every move is regarded with suspicion and where you will find that even your more legitimate exploitation stunts are blocked. Kill Patronage Killing tlie goose with the golden eggs is a renumcrative job in comparison with trying to sell a picture through a stunt which shocks an entire town. Don't use the stuff yourself and shoot the first exploitation man who suggests it. Shoot him on the spot. Don't wait until sunrise. It is not just the suicide stunt which should be avoided. Lay off the fake auto accident in which a person is apparently struck by a car. That may be "big stuflF" until some nervous wonian drops dead from excitement. Cut all that stuff out and work for the laughs — having in mind a proper sense of humor. Quick Sales Fred V. Greene, ex-Paramountcer and exUniversalist, present manager of the Rialto Theatre, Jamaica, N. Y., asked a local milliner to put in a display of Norma Hats to help him sell "The Eternal Flame" — and the hats. The storekeeper was one of those Doubting Thomases and Fred had to use several thousand words to sell him the idea, but finally the man agreed; more to get rid of Fred than for any other reason. He stocked in a dozen hats. Next day Greene dropped in and found only three hats in the window. The other nine had been sold and a messenger was even then on the way with fresh supplies. Next time Fred wants that window he will not have to use up his entire vocabulary. When you sell a merchant on a window scheme, talk the sales angle. WHEN DR. JACK TURNED TRAFFIC COP FOR THE MISSION THEATRE, LOS ANGELES Ten cutouts from the 24-sheets were stretched across a closed street as one of the special exploitation stunts for the original run at the Mission Theatre in the City of Angels. And these ten represent but a small number of those used, for the cutouts were scattered all over town and served in no small degree to hold up the run at this house. The size may be approximated by comparison with the man standing near the right hand.